Based in the Middle East, beoutQ reportedly spawned from a diplomatic crisis between Qatar and four other nations – United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt – who all cut ties with the 2022 World Cup host due to its alleged links with terrorism.

Unfortunately for football fans, Qatar-based beIN Sports was given full broadcast rights in the region for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and failed to reach agreements with broadcasters in any of the aforementioned countries.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before an illegal stream surfaced. It was beoutQ who pounced on the opportunity, hijacking the beIN Sports stream and broadcasting it in Saudi Arabia with a geo-block.

But beoutQ quickly grew its network to a point where it offered 10 beIN channels to users throughout the Middle East, with an infrastructure resembling a legitimate corporate entity complete with advertising deals, a subscription model and set-top boxes – despite illegally obtaining 100% of its content.